This new cultivar is the product of a long standing program of hybridization and selection of interspecific hybrid hollies (Ilex) at a location in New Brunswick, N.J.; in this instance, it is the result of a controlled cross of Ilex crenata ‘Sky Pencil’ with Ilex x ‘Jersey Jewel’ (I. x aquipernyi x I. rugosa). Our breeding objective was to create an evergreen holly with a desirable and unique upright and compact tree form and other characteristics which would make it commercially attractive with the potential for wide distribution. We believe that we have been successful in achieving this goal. Further, to our knowledge, plants of these four species combination have not been reported previously.
We selected the particular seedling hereof from known progeny grown in a cultivated area, and as a result, have in turn caused the same to be asexually reproduced by the rooting of stem cuttings. The reproduction, growth, and selection of the new cultivar and its asexually propagated clones took place in the vicinity of Adelphia, Millstone, and New Brunswick, N.J. The claimed cultivar is stable and reproducible true-to-type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The description which follows will be understood as clearly defining the new cultivar, the desirable characteristics of which are the result of such a program as has been heretofore stated.